Ava's Phenology Project: Centennial Woods

On May 1st, I visited my phenology spot for the final time this semester. I haven’t had the opportunity to visit this spot since the more recent warmer weather and once I finally did, there were many changes that had occurred.

Coming back to my site, it was indicative that spring had sprung here!

The ferns that covered most of the ground, an aspect of my site that helped define it and what made me choose the spot in the first place, had almost completely vanished. Instead, fallen, dead leaves and coniferous needles covered the ground with new fiddleheads and other ferns growing in their place.

Moss began to cover almost all of the fallen tree trunks exponentially more than it had before. Additionally, there were new fallen trees towards the back left of my site, which also began to accumulate moss.

The trees were still flowerless and leafless, but they began to bud.

Additionally, I noticed a rise in saplings throughout my site, specifically American Beeches that were beginning to leaf.

In addition to signs of spring coming in through the presence of tree budding and changes in plants, there were also indications of spring coming from animal signs. There were many bird chirpings, indicative of spring. However, given the proximity to the airport and other human development, the bird sounds were very faint and drowned out by human noise more often than not.

My Overall Connection to the Site

Overall, there were several components of my site that I would view as staple landmarks that connected me deeper to my place.

Firstly, a minor landmark: the ferns.

The ferns that covered the entirety of the site were what initially drew me to the site. Whilst Centennial had ferns throughout the forest, this area stood out to me for its ground being completely covered in ferns. When I first came to this area, the ground cover of ferns with the tall coniferous and Beech trees made the site feel incredibly mystical. It was something that defined this site for me and stood out to me from the rest of the forest.

Secondly, a major landmark: Uprooted fall tree

At the bottom of the hill of my site sits this large fallen uprooted tree which became a distinct feature of the area.

In addition to this, some minor landmarks of this area were the surrounding fallen trees that encompassed the entire site.

Culture & Nature

For Centennial as a whole, I think the role of culture comes in through the recreational use of the forest. The forest is accessible to a very urban area and my site is indicative of this as well. My site is located just off the main trail and isn’t too far into the forest. This means that this area is accessible to people and specifically UVM students and faculty. Every time I visit this site I come across families hiking with dogs, people on runs, students or parents with young children. Additionally, close to my site, there is typically a hammock hanging. The modern culture of this area is recreation and this sense of place and calmness that sitting in this natural area brings. Since Burlington is so urbanized, Centennial brings this peaceful, natural escape from that, where people can reconnect with nature.

But historically, there has been this connection between culture and nature in this area in a very different way. The original inhabitants of Centennial Woods were the Abenaki people. They practiced subsistence hunting and had this deep connection with Earth and coexisted with the natural world in a very healthy way. Post-colonialism, Centennial Woods and many natural areas in the US changed from this healthy coexistence between humans and nature. In places like my site, we see this increased noise and physical pollution, limiting biodiversity in the site. And due to this shift in culture as a result of colonialism, we see this change from having this area be a priority to connect with, to then utilizing this area as an escape from the harsh industrialized world we live in today. However, as we see with noise pollution to my site, even these “natural” areas become contaminated with the effects of this post-colonial view of nature and environment being separate.

Final Thoughts

Overall, my connection with this place is very ambivalent. I am not entirely sure I would consider myself part of my place.

On the one hand, I think the proximity of my site of being closer to the edge of the forest, exposing it to much more noise pollution, impacts this lack of connection. Oftentimes throughout the semester, I found myself wishing I chose a different site due to this. The constant airplanes flying over, made it impossible for me to sit in silence in my site and even be able to carefully listen for bird noises. In fact, this final visit, I heard several faint bird chirpings but was completely unable to identify them due to the constant aircraft activity. Due to this noise pollution, it made the site unsettling and decreased the levels of wildlife activity through the area. Additionally, my site is located in a very hilly section, making most critters against traveling through, meaning there wasn’t much activity throughout the year. Despite this, this site did open up my realization of the prevalence of noise pollution in Burlington (and surrounding areas) and how that can ruin even the smallest number of natural areas we have and ruin this natural “escape” many people utilize forests such as Centennial for.

That being said, I appreciate this site for making me become more in tune with noticing the smaller details that many people overlook when in natural areas. I began to find myself observing things closer and closer every time I came back in search of something new. This natural curiosity is something I cherish given to me from this site. I found a deeper love and appreciation for ferns and moss which are often details people overlook and instead look at the bigger species such as the overstory make-up.

For the Phenology Walk, I walked around campus observing the trees in the study on Monday April 14th.

Data Collected

Sugar Maple #618 Located Near the Davis Center

Phenophase	Was it Present?
Breaking Lead Buds	No
Leaves	No
Increasing Leaf Size	No
Colored Leaves	No
Falling Leaves	No
Flowers or Flower Buds	No
Open Flowers	No
Pollen Release	No
Fruits	No
Ripe Fruits	No
Recent Fruit or Seed Drop	No

Red Oak #615 Located Near the Davis Center

Phenophase	Was it Present?
Breaking Lead Buds	Yes
Leaves	No
Increasing Leaf Size	No
Colored Leaves	No
Falling Leaves	No
Flowers or Flower Buds	No
Open Flowers	No
Pollen Release	No
Fruits	No
Ripe Fruits	No
Recent Fruit or Seed Drop	No

Norway Maple #3261 Near Williams Hall

Phenophase	Was it Present?
Breaking Lead Buds	No
Leaves	No
Increasing Leaf Size	No
Colored Leaves	No
Falling Leaves	No
Flowers or Flower Buds	No
Open Flowers	No
Pollen Release	No
Fruits	No
Ripe Fruits	No
Recent Fruit or Seed Drop	No

White Oak #761 Near the Aiken Center

Phenophase	Was it Present?
Breaking Lead Buds	Yes
Leaves	No
Increasing Leaf Size	No
Colored Leaves	No
Falling Leaves	Yes
Flowers or Flower Buds	No
Open Flowers	No
Pollen Release	No
Fruits	No
Ripe Fruits	No
Recent Fruit or Seed Drop	No

Red Maple #280 Near Old Mill

Phenophase	Was it Present?
Breaking Lead Buds	No
Leaves	No
Increasing Leaf Size	No
Colored Leaves	No
Falling Leaves	No
Flowers or Flower Buds	?
Open Flowers	No
Pollen Release	No
Fruits	No
Ripe Fruits	No
Recent Fruit or Seed Drop	No

April 14th was an oddly warm day after a period of 40–50-degree weather. The high of the day was 66 with a low of 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite this warmer temperature of the day, the past few weeks of colder weather impacted the phenophases present. Overall, not much activity was happening. Some of the trees showcased beginning signs of budding, and some trees began to break these buds such as the white oak. While other trees didn’t even have these early signs of budding. Overall, most trees didn’t showcase any phenophases other than budding.

Looking at the Bigger Picture

Looking at the bigger picture, utilizing the National Phenology Network, it is evident that climate change is changing the timing of these phenophases indictive of spring to be earlier and earlier each year. Due to this, there is this question of how does this impact species?

I looked at an article on NPN’s website that looked at this question of “Are plant and animal species responding differently to climate change?” utilizing a 2025 article by Lang, W., Y. et al.

There are some key findings of this study that showcase that spring and summer phenological changes (such as leaf out, flowering, and fruiting) for the past 40 years are occurring earlier. Specifically, these increased temperatures had drastic impacts on plants, making typically later stages like flowering and fruit ripening occur faster than earlier stages. However, interestingly enough, this study found that the increased temperatures have weaker impacts on animal cycles suggesting that it is actually resource availability that plays a larger role in the occurrence of animals than the increased temperatures. The issue is that animals aren’t necessarily changing their activity in response creating problems with resources. For instance, since plants are blooming earlier, pollination is occurring earlier, yet pollinators aren’t coming out earlier, losing time of pollination.

This study is vital because it looks at the large scale and identifies these patterns with over 2,000 global plants and animals. So, when it comes to Vermont, we see signs of budding breaking in mid-April which questions when will flowering occur and will that be earlier than historically? Although it might not seem too early, given the very cold weather preceding this, it seems early for these trees to begin budding. Along with this study on trees, it could be interesting to monitor animal activity surrounding it, specifically pollinators.

This weekend to participate in the iNaturalist Bio Blitz, I visited North Beach and Rock Point. While exploring this area, I came across a plethora of bird species and tree species.

Bird Species

While walking throughout Rock Point, there were several birds calls I found including:

• Black-Capped Chickadee
• Northern Cardinal
• Woodpecker, what I believe was a Downy Woodpecker but I was unable to correctly identify it using Merlin nor was I able to actually see the woodpecker
• Red Crowned Kinglet
• Canada Goose

In order to make sure I correctly identified the different bird species; I used Merlin Bird Id which significantly aided in ensuring accuracy.

Tree Species

Throughout my hike of Rock Point there were many tree species present. There were several Paper and Yellow Birches. As I became closer to the cliffs, there were many Northern White Cedars, White Pines and Eastern Hemlocks. There were also many trees in the understory growing up along the path which seemed to be newly planted, specifically coniferous trees. I also saw several Beech trees and Black Cherry trees growing in the overstory. There was also a great presence of ferns and fallen trees creating perfect bird habitat.

My Experience with this Global Challenge

Overall, I found this concept of the iNaturalist BioBlitz Challenge incredibly fun and engaging and inspiring to get outside these past four days. Using iNaturalist was a fun opportunity to use in accordance with other nature resources such as Merlin Bird Id. Additionally, it was incredibly fun to be able to see what my peers were finding, along with people across the world.

When looking at the reports coming in from other cities, it was interesting just to see how different spring looked across the US. When I looked through the iNaturalist website’s map of this challenge, I decided to focus on the Washington Metro area as it’s close to where I am from in Baltimore. Photo after photo were blooming Cherry Blossoms, Blackhaws, and Fruit Trees. Along with many birds such as Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Sandpipers, and more. As the temperatures increase quicker in these more southern areas of the US versus Vermont, they were seeing earlier blooming seasons this year. It was so beautiful to see all of these creatures sometimes in very urban areas, areas we don’t often associate with being full of nature. I enjoyed looking at submissions from this challenge because it reminds us of the differences geographically, and how unique each area is, whilst also reminding that there is nature all around if we take the time to just look for it.

For this phenology assignment, I went down to the waterfront in downtown Burlington and walked along the Bike Path next to the Burlington Bay.

As I walked along the path, the first sight of life was bird calls. I reached a part of the trail near the Urban Reserve labeled on the map that was filled with brush. Within the brush, I heard two distinct bird calls. The first was from some sort of chickadee, which I assume was the Black-Capped Chickadee. The second call heard was from the Northern Cardinal. I unfortunately was unable to get a clear video recording of either calls as all the videos I did get are drowned out by the noise of constant planes flying over.

I later saw three Black-Capped Chickadees further down the path that confirmed that the species of birds I heard earlier in the path were in fact chickadees. The Black-Capped Chickadee was able to be identified by its small, rounded body with distinct Black markings around its head in contrast to the rest of its white head feathers.

What solidified my identification of these birds was from using the Merlin Bird ID app by Cornell Lab.

Another species found was the American Robin. In fact, as I was walking along the trail, I saw several eating off of Staghorn Sumac and one American Robin jump off the branch of the Sumac and hop through the snow leaving it’s prints behind for me to take a photo of.

In the midst of these heavily-bird populated areas, there was several other signs of bird life including several nests.

Additionally, I found some squirrel tracks. What made me identify them as squirrel tracks was due to their galloper track pattern that left behind drags within the snow. It looked similar to the squirrel tracks we had identified back in Jericho where the drag marks in between the tracks were created from the fast-galloping motion of the squirrel moving from tree to tree.

I also wanted to note how the entirety of the Burlington Bay of Lake Champlain was completely frozen over and it was a cool observation to see the difference between being out on the Vessel for last semester’s Lake Champlain Lab, on the same waters that was now completely frozen over. It makes me wonder about how the creatures living underneath the ice’s life patterns and systems have slowed down drastically. It also was an interesting pattern to be able to see the movement of the water as you could see the swirls in the ice frozen over indicating the movement of the water before it froze.

Overall, having iNaturalist helped a lot with this exploration of downtown Burlington. I learned about the Staghorn Sumac and the food that it provides to the American Robin in the wintertime, which is something I wouldn’t have known without the help of iNaturalist helping to identify the species. Additionally, the use of iNaturalist was relatively straightforward and easy.

This semester I decided to go back to my same phenology spot from last semester within Centennial Woods.

To my surprise, there haven’t been many changes since the last time I have been to my spot. The ferns that once covered the entirety of the ground were still present from since my first visit to this spot, however, this time, they were just covered with ice and snow. But beneath this thin layer of snow these ferns were still bright green and full of life. In fact, these ferns were one of the only bright green pigments I saw throughout my time at my spot on this snowy January day.

One observation I did make however about the changes within this area was a lot more of the trees have had their leaves fallen. Last time I was at this spot, majority of the tree’s leaves have fallen, except for the conifers. This time however, even the conifers had only about a third of their needles left.

Additionally, there seemed to be more moss growth on logs, since the last time I have been here. Now the moss is completely covering the fallen logs, along with snow covering the moss.

The area seems to appear less dense as there were about 1-2 more trees that have fallen and now almost all of the leaves off the trees have fallen.

The animal tracks within my spot were very anticlimactic. The only prints I saw were a lot of deer prints. One pattern I did notice was that all of the hoof tracks from the deer came from up over the hill, moving toward the frozen lake outside of my area. Instead, my phenology spot seemed to be the area of transition where critters moved through rather than stayed for the winter. This is because, just outside of my phenology spot I found several other prints, ranging from bunnies, voles, more deer, and birds. My hypothesis for this is that there seems to not be a lot of snow accumulated in my phenology spot at the time I was there. The areas that had more tracks were covered in deeper snow pockets or hay covered in snow, giving an insulated place for these critters to hide away and tunnel throughout the winter.

I visited my phenology spot today, December 8th, for the last time of the semester. It has been snowing the past few days so when I made my trek into Centennial Woods, there were a few inches covering my phenology spot.

The foliage in my phenology spot had changed drastically since I had been there last. All of the Sugar Maples, Oak trees and American Beeches had fully lost their foliage. The coniferous trees (such as the Eastern Hemlocks) remained to have their leaves while the snow laid on their needles.

There was only one hardwood tree within my entire phenology spot that still had some decaying leaves on it and that was a red maple (pictured below). However, the majority of the leaves have fallen off and the ones that were left were completely dead.

What surprised me to see was that the ferns still persisted and were mostly all alive even under the snow with no signs of decay. Instead, the snow fully slid off of the fern, like with the conifers, and was just as green and showing signs of life as they did back in October.

When I was walking in my phenology spot, I began to clear some of the snow to see what made up the ground cover. What I found was most of the ground cover continued to be made up of the same ferns, still thriving since I first saw them in October. In addition to these ferns, fallen and decaying leaves have joined into these ground-hugging plants. The majority of the leaves I observed on the ground, that didn’t fully decay away yet, were that of oak trees.

While I was at phenology spot, I saw signs of animal footprints. They were small in size and round in shape. I am not exactly sure what they are. They could even be misinterpreted dog footprints as there is a trial not too far from my phenology spot. However, I discredited this idea once I began to get further into my phenology spot and it seemed as though the tracks were moving within the spot and away from the trail. Additionally, there were no human footprints surrounding these tracks (the human footprint pictured within one of the photos is my own). This intrigues me to know what critter these tracks were from and to begin animal tracking next semester.

As this semester comes to an end, and this is my last post for this phenology spot for 2024, there are many things I will reflect on that I enjoyed about this project. Firstly, having the opportunity to see the changes of my spot within varying weather conditions was such a wonderful experience. I have visited my spot in sun, pouring rain and now snow. It was interesting to see impacts such weather had on these species. For instance, the below freezing nights and snow led to most of the trees to not have any leaves yet but for ferns, they continue to thrive.

Additionally, one of my favorite parts of this semester assignment was creating a place-based relationship with this spot within Centennial Woods. Treking to a secluded area gave me the opportunity to sit in the silence and just take in the ecosystem around me. It was also a wonderful opportunity to instigate curiosity and continuous exploring. I often found myself looking very closely at the different parts of my phenology spot to see if there was anything new that I hadn’t noticed from my previous visit. There were several patterns I observed within my phenology spot such as ferns growing by conifers that I also began to notice in labs as well afterwards. There was something so peaceful being disconnected from the busy technical world and just looking closely at a place I otherwise wouldn’t have looked at with so much intent and observation.

For my Thanksgiving break, I spent my time back home in Baltimore. From the moment I read the instructions of this assignment to pick a place where we are spending our holiday, I knew exactly where I wanted to go in my hometown: The Baltimore Loch Raven Reservoir. During lecture, Chris discussed the idea of “Place-based” connection and learning. For me, the Loch Raven Reservoir was the first natural area I found this connection to.

One of my favorite definitions of having a sense of “place” shared in lecture was it being the relationship between a person and the land and community in which they live, “developed by experiential intimacy with natural processes, community and history of that place.”

About a 10-minute drive from my home in Baltimore, the reservoir was where I spent most of my summers throughout high school in attempt to find an accessible natural area to be outside in. This place is somewhere I have an experiential intimate relationship with, and I am grateful for this assignment to give me an excuse to come back here for even the short period I was home. For me, the reservoir provides me with an accessible area to be fully surrounded by woods and natural processes and get me out of my suburban home filled with the constant noise of the busy road I live on.

There are multiple areas in the reservoir that I have visited and love but for this assignment I stayed to a particular area of woods right on the water of the southern end of the reservoir

Link to the Google Map of the Pin

The Health of the Loch Raven Reservoir

Given the focus of this course to connect the history and current uses of the land to how the land operates now, when I was sitting in the woods of the reservoir, it made me wonder about the history of the place I was sitting in. The Loch Raven Reservoir is a vital source to Baltimore, providing the drinking water supply to both the city and county. Despite, this human reliance on the water, since 2002 (until present) the reservoir has been labeled as impaired in due to heavy metals found in the water source. The specific reason for impairment comes from the findings of mercury in fish tissue.

Total Maximum Daily Load for the Loch Raven Reservoir Report

Additionally, the history of this place fascinates me in that it has a long-life of multiple uses. At one point, this area was a suburban city that is rumored to currently be underneath the reservoir now. I linked an interesting article that goes more into it here. But starting in 1881, the reservoir was built simply as a dam. But as the population of Baltimore grew, so did this dam. It was ultimately the increased population and therefore increased need for drinking water that created the expansion of this area into the modern reservoir it is today.

Comparison of Loch Raven Reservoir & Centennial Woods

One of the biggest comparisons I noticed between the area of Loch Raven Reservoir that I explored, and my phenology spot was the difference in the effect of human interaction within each of the woods. In Loch Raven, the presence of human interference is much more noticeable than in my phenology spot. The reservoir is popular for its many hiking and mountain biking trials. The tracks of the mountain biking trails are very evident within the landscape. Additionally, the consistent trampling of plants right off the pathways are evident. One of the most infuriating signs of human presence in these woods of the reservoir were the abundant amount of tree bark filled to the brim with carvings. This differs greatly from my phenology spot where the area itself is full of vegetation along the ground and tree barked untouched from the carving of human hands. There is still a significant presence of hikers in the woods as there is a path not too far away from my phenology spot, however the human interaction isn’t as deadly as in Loch Raven.

The major tree species that dominated Loch Raven Reservoir were oak trees. This differed from the majority species in Centennial Woods which were mostly coniferous trees, American Beeches and Red Maples. Red Maples are present in Maryland and in parts of Loch Raven, but they weren’t present in the area I observed. Additionally, there was a pine stand that I passed as I walked towards the specific area I observed, which was slightly further away from the water. Oak trees are very adaptable and typically appear on gently sloping areas which would explain their presence in this landscape. The area of Loch Raven is incredibly hilly, and the human interactions showcase the need for highly adaptable trees such as oaks.

At the time that I went to the reservoir, all of the trees I saw had no leaves on them and instead had a presence of fallen leaves scattered across the ground. This matches the phenology of Centennial Woods.

On this cool crisp fall day, I took about 20 minutes to sit in the center of my phenology spot. The area that I chose is densely populated with different species and so, sitting flat on the ground surrounded by tall trees made me feel disconnected from the road that was not even a quarter mile away. Sitting on the ground I heard the chirping of many birds; however, I was unable to catch them on inaturalist to see what species they were. A big barrier in capturing a recording of the chirping of the birds was the constant sound of airplanes above with the presence of the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport less than 3 miles away. Although sitting with the trees of the overstory towering over me could make me feel like I was sitting in the middle of a deep forest disconnected from human world, that fantasy was quickly erased by the consistent sound of several planes up above. In fact, I counted about 3 planes in the span of 20 minutes.

Regarding the place itself, one thing that I noticed while sitting in silence for these 20 or so minutes was that this was the time that the leaves were falling. The ground was fully covered with leaves, mostly from American Beeches. But there was still continuous leaf falling.

Bird’s Eye View Map of Phenology Spot

My phenology spot is the area on the map pictured to the right. I included the area to the left as it still plays a key role in the entirety of the phenology spot. The white space dividing the two areas is to indicate the difference between the two areas as my phenology spot is on a hill and the stream and surrounding vegetation is at the bottom of the hill. And due to this, I find it important to note the other area as any runoff or changes in my area could have a direct impact on that close by area. These two areas are divided by a human-made path that go straight through them.

As showcased in the map, my phenology spot is very fern heavy. The entire ground is covered in fern species. There are two fallen trees at the tip of my area but then the rest of the area is covered in Eastern Hemlocks to the far right to American beeches and maples dominating more of the left side of the area.

Changes in Vegetation

At this point in the season, almost all the leaves off of the American Beech Trees and Maples have fallen. In general, conifers have the most leafage/needles on them but many of their needles have still fallen already.

The ferns that were observed last time I was here are still prominent in the area.

Located within Centennial Woods, the area that I chose to work on for this phenology project was due to several reasons. First, location. This area is located close to campus (0.8 miles from central campus), right off of Carrigan (which turns into Catamount) Drive. The exclusion of a natural area whilst also being located so closely to a huge institution intrigued me to wonder the different phenological effects human development surrounding the area has on this natural community. In fact, both times I have visited this area, I have heard constant airplanes flying right over the area.

The second reason as to why I chose this spot within Centennial woods amongst all the other various places that could have been chosen was because of the vast amount of vegetation that laid across the ground. The area seemed seemly as untouched from humans as it could be within the scope of a research forest. This area bared off the path and was instead filled completely with vegetation on the ground surrounding all the trees (no human-made path in between). Additionally, just down the hill from this area lies a highly eroded stream and a buffer space of more vegetation. With this project, I am intrigued to see how these two areas interact as the seasons change.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/K1Mh1amCHwMwuMrr5

Vegetation

Throughout this entire area, the ground is covered in Woody Ferns. At my second observation (October 14th), the ground was covered still in ferns but less so and instead filled with dead falling conifer spikes as well. Majority of the trees within this area remain in the overstory. Conifers (Eastern Hemlocks) and Maples (Sugar & Red) are the main tree species of the overstory. In the understory remain immature American Beeches, along with other unknown (for now) immature species.

October 14, 2024, Woody Species Observation

Sugar Maples

The Sugar Maples identified today had all changed colors to be completely yellow.

Red Maples

The red maples observed were changing and becoming a red gradient.

Eastern Hemlocks

Jack-in-the-pulpits and Cobra Lilies

This was an interesting find that I found right before I left my site. It struck my attention as a saw a small bright red grouping of buds sticking straight out of the ground. Under further investigation, I believe these are Jack-in-the-pulpits, also known as Arisaema Triphyllum. The cluster of the bright crimson bulbs are actually remnants of the berries of the plant.

Jack-in-the-pulpits is a species of flowering plant that grow in Eastern North America and the usually grow in the spring but can be tolerant of deeper shade in the summer (which this area has).

American Beeches

All of the American Beeches observed today had also changed its leaves to yellow.

Wood Ferns